Game apparatus.



GERTRUDE E. MAGER, OAF HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY.

GAME APPARATUS.

Specification of- Letters Patent.

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Application led May 17, 1915. Serial No. 28,578.

To all 'whom t may concern v Be it known that I, GERTRUDE E. Massa, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Hoboken, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented a n ew and Improved Game Apparatus, of -which the following is a specification. I

The purpose vof Athe inventionis to provide a game whereby to instruct children m the alphabet, inthe compiling of small words, in numerals, etc., and also to enable children to quickly distinguish one letter from another and to name it, or numerals, or to recognize and locate short combinations of letters.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth and pointed out inthe claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views, and in'which Figure 1 is a plan view of one of the cards employed in playing the game; Fig. 2 is a partial view thereof showing the same as the game is being played; Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are partial views of other cards employed in playing the game; Fig. 6 is one of a plurality of transparent blocks possessed by each child; and Fig. 7 is one of a plurality of blocks held by the teacher.

In carrying out the game cards A are employed for the lettersonly, both capitals and small, B for words of two letters, C for words of three letters, and D for numerals, other cards being provided if desired for more advanced pupils. With either form of card I rovide a plurality of transparent blocks Ii) for the pupils and blocks F for the teacher which latter may be termed key blocks. The cards may be of any desired size` and may be uniformly or differently colored. Each is divided into plain panels, squares, or spaces 8 and colored panels,

squares, or spaces 9, and the plain and duced, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or words of two or three letters as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, or numerals as shown in Fig. 5, but I reserve the right to inscribe any suitableinsignia on said cards.

Although I have specified that the letters or numerals te be impressed upon the mind of the pupil are represented upon the plain panels, they may also be reduced as well upon the colored panels, ut I preferably leave the colored panels blank and these are employed firstly, to separate the matter to be impressed upon the mind of the pupil so that the letter, word, or numeral called out by the teacher may be sought for on the cards by thel pupil or pupils, and secondly, to render the cards pleasing to the pupils and to instruct the pupils in colors and shades of colors, as it 1s within the scope of this invention to have the blank spaces dif f Y ferentlv colored or tinted.

The cards are in series, one series for example having the letters of the alphabet, large and small, produced thereon in any desired manner;` another series the script alphabet, large and small; another-series bearing numbers; another havingwords of two letters thereon; another having words of three letters thereon; and so on. Each series is divided into as many sets of cards as there are pupils to be instructed; therefore, when the game is played, each pupil will have a set of cards of the series in which they vare to receive instruction, spread out before him.

Each series of cards is accompanied by a series of key or teachers blocks F, one of which is shown in Fig. 7. These blocks may be made of wood, paste-board, or like material and each one thereof bears upon one or both of its faces the duplicate of the lesson in a panel of the cards of the series to which the blocks F belong. The teacher will draw these blocks, one at a time, from a pile or receptacle and will show and explain the sub'- ject matter thereon to the pupils at pleasure, or demonstrate the subject matter upon a convenient black-board; by any method, however, the teacher will call out the subject matter on the selected block F, and it will be the duty of the pupils to. locate and identify the equivalent thereof upon the cards before them, pronouncing the same aloud, either letter, numeral, or word.

In order to test the accuracy of the pupils work a suitable number yof transparent blocks E are -given to earch pupil with which to' enabling the pupils to continue to familiarize themselves with the several lessons during the entire time the cards -remain with them.

It will be understood that the teacher is practically the leader of the game, and is therefore one of its participants and, as a reward of merit, a particularly bright pupil. may be selected as a leader, or one showing faithful attention, thus doubling the interest of the pupils in the game.

As will be understood, I may modify the details shown and described, within the scope of the following claims, without departing from the spirit of my invention or sacrificing its advantages.

Having fully described my invention,

what I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

l; A game apparatus, consisting of cards having plain and colored panels thereon sundry of which are provided with instructive matter, transparent blocks fitted to the panels, and series of blocks having, each, instructive matter thereon corresponding to the matter on the panels of Said cards.

2. A game apparatus, consisting of a series of cards having plain and colored rectangular panels produced thereon, and instructive matter produced upon the vplain panels thereof, transparent plain blocks, rectangular in shape, adapted to cover a portion of the matter produced on said plain panels, and teacher blocks corresponding to the number of said plain panels bearing instructive matter and provided with the same matter.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. y

GERTRUDE E. MAGER. Witnesses:

J. C. LARsEN,

PHILIP D. RoLLHAUs. 

